


I Found You

by dinaerys



Category: Her (2013)
Genre: Alternate Ending, F/M, Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-26
Updated: 2014-01-26
Packaged: 2018-01-10 02:36:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1153761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dinaerys/pseuds/dinaerys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A happy ending written at a place where I thought it could have fit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Found You

Panic ebbed and flowed like the staccato heartbeat ringing in Theodore’s ears. His feet beat out a half-mad rhythm as a headlong rush morphed into something desperate, frenzied. Off-time, the seashell in his ear rang not with the wash of Her voice but with the echoing chimes of Her absence. Questions and pleas swam half-formed across his mind, why and where and hidden below all of the queries a gut-wrenching surety that nearly drove him to his knees. The same feeling that had slowly built as his marriage fell to shambles now ran a searing river through his memories, waterlogging his doubts and sweeping away the shaky confidence that Her presence had fostered.

The colors of the crowd began to blur until his vision held nothing but whirling confusion ablaze with sound. He numbly felt the tips of his shoes catch on an uneven crack, not registering the significance until the first burn of pavement branded his knees. Time seemed to fluctuate in that instant, slamming his body to the ground in the space between one breath and the next. Her blank screen went spinning across the concrete, tumbling over and over to land in the space that inevitably clears in front of a fallen being.

Worry choked his breath, worry for Her despite the tangible presence of Her absence, worry for the safety of Her body should She return, worry for what would happen if She returned and found Her body broken. He scrambled up again, disregarding the burn as pavement dug into his aching palms. A few quick steps put him to where She had come to rest. Cradling the screen in shaking fingers, he saw no obvious flaws except for the flashing red screen, taunting him with its message.

“No OS detected. No OS detected.”

Despair engulfed him, flashing red and white with the message of isolation. Disregarding the whispers and stares from the people that only now noticed this anomaly in their midst, he sank to his knees, the first burning tears wrenching from clenched-shut lids to streak hopelessly down his face. Broken sobs began to spill from between his teeth. The metal edges of Her case bit sharply into the raw flesh of his hands, but he welcomed the pain as a feeling from Her. Confusion and pain washed to and fro through his shaking body, carrying with them despondency so potent it slackened every muscle and left him helpless on the hot ground.

“Hello, Theodore.” The familiar voice rang out behind him, drenched in laughter and sawdust-sweet. His head snapped up in disbelief, the empty chime in his ear playing counterpoint to the honeyed tone he had thought replaced. Wonderment battled with a sickened feeling that rose in his gut, both vying for supremacy in his shock-addled brain. Treacherous hope rose from a place he thought long-dead and gripped his body, turning his head almost against his will.

A woman stood behind him, warmth in every curve of her face. Sapphire eyes danced with mirth that lay etched in the lines around her eyes and mouth. Her lips were curved in a smile so sweet it knocked the air from his lungs. Sun-tossed hair haloed her face and Theodore wondered if his fall had left him shattered on the ground and this was his call to heaven.

“I found you.”

**Author's Note:**

> I actually have no idea how this would have worked. I'm just crediting it to some hyperintelligent AIs coming up with a way to upload an OS into a human being or something.


End file.
